Velocipede-boat



(No Model.) F '2 sheets-sheet 1.

l P. J. 811W. H. ROSS.

VBLOGIPBDE BOAT.

No. 380,221. Patented Mar. 27, 1888.A

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(No Model.) A l P. J. 8v W. H. ROSS# VB-LOGIPEDB BOAT. I No'. 380,221.Patented Map2?, 1888.-

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.1f DVEDULV UNITED STA'IES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK J. RoSS AND WILLIAM H. Ross, 0E SOUTH RADLEY FALLS,MASSACHUSETTS.

VELOCIPEDE-BOAT.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,221. dated March27, 1383- v Application filed October'iKQ, 1887. Serial No. 253.093.(No-modem To all whom t may concern.:

Beit known that we, FREDERICK J. Ross and WILLIAM H. Ross, of SouthHadley Falls, in the county of Hampshire and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful ImprovementinVelocipede-Boats, of which the following is aspecication, refer- .encebeing had tothe accompanying drawlings, forming part thereof. l

Our invention relates to that class of boats having two hulls or iioatssupporting between them aplatform, upon whichis located the crank pedalapparatus by means of which the propellingfwheel is operated, known asvelocipede7 boats; and its object is to provide a boat of this naturewhich will be very simple and inexpensive in construction, and yetstrong and capable of being driven at a high rate of speed, and in whichprovision is made for propulsion of the boat by two or more persons atthe same time. f

To these ends our invention Consists in the boat constructed ashereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters designate like parts inthe several figures,"

Figure 1 is a plan view of the boat with the v seats, seat-bar,'andstandards for the latter removed. Fig. 2is a side elevation ofthe boatcomplete. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of one of the crankshaftbearings,taken upon line .fr x in Fig. 1. Fig. 4.' is a front view ofone of the standards supporting the seat-bar. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectionof one ofthe saddlehangers. Fig. 6 is a front view of one of theseat-bar supporting-standards provided with a handle-bar and handles foruse by lady riders. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of one of the saddlelhangers and its saddle.

The letters A A designate the hulls, which may be made of paper, cedar,or otherlight wood, and aredecked over throughout their length, asshown, to render them water-tight, The hulls are connected together bytwo crossbars, B B, suitably connected at each end to one of said hulls,and preferably by a third bar, C, which supports the steering-bar, ashereinafter described. The hulls are still further united by thepaddle-wheel shaft D, which 'of the boat by two persons at the Sametime.

extends transversely across them near theiry -rear ends, being journaledin bearings D', the

As shown, the power mechanism consists of 6c two crank-shafts, F,mounted in uprights F',- secured to the rails E, and having at each enda Crank-arm, F2, provided with a pedal, F3, whereby provision is madefor the propulsion .65 The bearings for said crank-shafts, and also thebearings D for the wheel-shaft, will .preferably be constructed as shownin Fig. 3, in which the uprights are shown as being provided with a boreto receive the shaft, which bore is screw-threaded throughout thegreater portion of its length from itsinner toward its outer end, and atits outer end is of slightly greater diameter. The shaft F is provided Iwith two hubs, f, of a slightly less diameter than the enlarged portionsof the bores ofthe upright-s in which said hubs are located, the.v innerfaces of which are curved,.as shown. Bushings f are Screwed into thebores of the uprights from the side opposite the hubs on the shaft, saidbushings having a bore of greater diameter than the diameter of theshaft between the hubs, and having their inner ends lconcaved, whereby arecess is formed between said" bushings and the curved faces of hubs f,to receive theY balls f 2, which extend in a single row entirely aroundthe shaft and entirely support itwithin the uprights.

. The abutting surfaces of bushings f and hubs f,'as well as the ballsf2, will preferably be case-hardened, sov that the wear between saidparts will bc slight; but provision is made for taking up such wear byturning the bush.-

ing to advance it within the upright, a checknut, f, being located uponthe bushing between the head ofthe latter and the upright, by means ofwhich the bushing can be'locked in its adjusted position. A verysimple-and cheap ball-bearing is thus afforded, by means of whichfriction on the crank and wheel-shafts is re- AIoo duced to a minimum,said shafts being supported laterally with respect to the hulls A A, aswell as vertically, by the ballsf.

Midway between the rails E E each of the crank shafts is provided with asprocketwheel, F, which wheels are preferably of the same diameter, andupon the wheel-shaft, in alignment with said Wheels F, is a thirdsprocket-wheel, D, preferably of one-half the diameter of said wheels. Achain belt, G, having links of the proper size to receive the teeth onsaid wheels, passes around the front wheel F and wheel D2 and over andbeneath the rear wheel F, whereby motion is transmitted from both wheelsF4 to wheel D and the wheel-shaft, said latter shaft making tworevolutions to each revolution of the crankshafts. l

The standards which support the seat-bar are preferably made from metaltubing, and consist of a main stem, H, having two outwardly anddownwardly curved arms, H', which are provided at their lower ends withfeet h, in eachof which is a groove to receive one of the rails E. Thearms H are also provided with downwardly projecting bolts h', whichextend through slots e in the rails E, and receive beneath said railsnuts h2. The slots e in the rails are located immediately in front andrear of the bearings for the crank-shafts, and by loosening the nuts h2the standards can be adj usted toward and away from said crankshafts tosuit the convenience of the riders. In order to provide for verticaladjustment of the seat-bar, we prefer to make the main stem H of thestandards in two parts, one sliding A within the other, as shown inFigs. 2, 4, and 6,

and to provide the lower member with a setscrew, h, by means of whichthe upper member can be secured in different positions within said lowermember. The seat-bar I is secured in any convenient manner upon theupper ends of the upper members of the standards.

The saddle-hangers K consist of upwardlycurved plates secured to theseat-bar by bolts k, passing through said plates and bar, and nuts k',turned on said bolts beneath the bar, as shown, or in any otherconvenient manner. Said hangers are provided at each end with an ear,k2, in each of which is pivoted a loop, k3, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7.The saddles L preferably have their front end extended to form a. strap,L', and have secured to their lower side, near their rear end, a strap,L, one of which straps is provided with a buckle at its free end and theother with holes to receive the tongue of said buckle, as shown. Bypassing strap L through the front loop, k3, and strap L2 through therear loop, as shown in Fig. 7, and connecting the ends of the strapstogether by means of the buckle, the saddle is suspended within thehanger in such manner as to yield to the movements of the rider whenoperating the pedal-cranks and afford an easyseat. The saddle can bemade more or less rigid with respect to the hanger by tightening orloosening the straps L L2. A handlebar, M, secured to the seat-bar infront of the rear saddle, enables the rear rider to steady himself inhis seat, while the front rider grasps a similar handle-bar secured tothe top of the steering-rod N and steers the boat. The steering-rod Nnear its upper end rests in an open bearing in the front end of theseat-bar, and at its lower end is rigidly secured to a bar, N', midwaybetween the ends of the latter. Said b ar N is centrally pivoted uponcrossbar C, and has secured to each end one end of the cord or rope N,which passes around the grooved pulleys Na at the top of the tillerpostsof the rudders N, at the end of the hulls, as shown in Fig. 1. lt willbe obvious without further description that axial movement of rod N bymeans of its handle-bar will turn both rudders in one or the otherdirection to change the course of the boat. As thus far described theboat is adapted for use by male riders only; but it can be quicklychanged, so that a lady can occupy the front seat while a gentleman sitsbehind and propels the boat, by removing the seat-bar, securing thesaddle-han'gers directly to the top of the standards H, and removing thefront standard to the rear of the front crank-shaft, slotse being madein the rails E E at that point for this purpose. When thisis done, weprefer to provide each of the standards with a handlebar, H, as shown inFig. 6, secured to the main stem of the standard by means of a collarsurrounding the same and having upwardlycurved arms, whereby a supportis aiorded upon either side of the saddle. A foot-rest will also besecured to the front cross-bar, B,

IOO

as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 2, which will also serve as asupport for the steeringrod in lieu of the seat-bar.

The wheel-shaft D is preferably tubular in form, and has secured to eachend thereof a paddle-wheel, D, composed of the hubs d, spokes d', andblades d, the spokes being braced by a wire, da, which may be continuonsaround the wheel, as shown, or composed of separate sections betweeneach pair of spokes. A very light but strong wheel is thus afforded, andthe combined operation of said wheels, which make two revolutions to oneof the crank-shafts, enables the boat to be driven at high speed withbut little exertion on the part of the riders.

The boat thus constructed can be made very cheaply and yet answer allthe purposes of similar boats heretofore made, which are much morecomplicated and expensive in structure.

' We do not wish to limit ourselves to the use of two crank-shafts, asthe number that could be employed in addition to the two shown islimited only by the sizeof the boat. It is obvious, also, that othermodifications in the details of construction shown and described couldbe made without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention,v

what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A velocipede-boat consisting of the hulls A A, a frame connecting oneof saidhulls with the other, a plurality of pedal-crank shafts mountedin bearings upon said frame, seats secured upon said frame adjacent tosaid shafts, a shaft having a paddle-wheel secured to each of its endsmounted in bearings upon said hulls, belt-connections between each ofsaid crankshafts and said wheel-shaft, rudders secured to said hulls, asteering-lever located in front of the Iirst crank-shaft, andintermediate connections between said lever and both of said rudders,substantially as described,- whereby said rudders can be operated inunison from the lever, substantially as set forth.

2. In a velocipede-boat, the combination, with hulls A A, havingpaddle-wheel shaft D, mounted in bearings thereon, of cross-bars B B,rails E E, extending between said bars, two or more pedal-crank` shaftsmounted in bearings upon said rails, standards H,'adjustably secured tosaid rails, bar I, connected at each end to one of said standards,saddles L,moi1nt ed upon said ybar I, sprocket-wheels secured to each ofthe crank-shafts and to the wheel-shaft, and belt G, connecting all ofsaid sprocketwheels together, substantially as set forth.

` 3. In the velocipede-boat herein described, the combination, withseat-bar I, supported substantially in the manner set forth, of thebowshaped hangers K, secured ,to said bar, said hangers having the loopsk3 at theirfends, and saddles L, having the straps L L2, whereby theyare adapted to be suspended between the loops on said hangers,substantially as de scribed. Y

4. The combination, with the hulls A A, 0f

bar N, pivo ted centrally between` said hulls, rod N, secured at one endto lsaid bar, Yrudders N4, having grooved pulleys N3, secured to theirfthereon, the surface of one side'of which is y curved, as shown,bushings f, screwed into the bore of said uprights and having theirinner endsconcaved, and balls f2, located between the ends of saidbushings and the curved surfaces of the hubs on theshafts, arranged andoperating substantially as and for the purpose f set forth. Y

6. The combination, with hulls A A, crossbars B B, and rails E E, havingslots e therein, of standards H, composed of two me1nbers,one. of whichis vertically adjustable within the other, and having the curved armsH,'secured to rails E by bolts passing through the slots in the latter,and seat-bar I, secured to the upper members or" said standards,substantially as described,whereby provision is made for adjusting saidseat-bar both vertically and longitudinally, for the purpose set forth.

FREDERICK J. ROSS.' WILLIAM. H. ROSS.

Witnesses:

W. H. CHAPMAN,

T. M. BROWN.

